Many times in the 1960s and 1970s, we would stop at Russo's Candy House on Route 1 in Saugus, Mass., after visiting my grandmother at her apartment in Lynn and assisted living quarters apartment in Peabody. Coming to this warm and inviting white colonial house -- with an incredible, beautifully displayed variety of sweets -- was sort of like going to another grandmother's house. Sweet, little old ladies always greeted us with a big smile and friendly customer service while we chose amongst the ice blue candy mints, fruit slices, penny candy, boxes of chocolates and homemade ice cream. What a wonderful experience coming here as a child! I can still recall those magical chocolate aromas.
One day, Russo's was no longer there. Eventually, the colonial-style house was torn down to make way for a bank. Better this happened when I was an adult than as a kid -- that would have been so sad to have a childhood favorite place shut down during childhood. Come to think of it, seeing that building coming down as a adult actually produced a tear in my eye and a knot in the stomach.
I understand Russo's opened at another location in Saugus, but the Route 1 landmark will forever be in my warmest memories and sweetest dreams.
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Actually, it was torn down to make way for a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Krispy Kreme built one of the ugliest, if not THE ugliest, buildings on Rt.1 in Saugus. It was essentially a giant concrete block. Krispy Kreme went out of business almost immediately, and a bank moved in. I often wonder if the bank had got there first if they would have been happy to have left that beautiful Colonial intact and just retro-fitted it with a vault and whatever security systems they needed. I grew up in Saugus and my family would stop in there frequently for ice cream and candy. They had some of the greatest home-made ice cream I had ever tasted. It really bothered me to see a cherished, beautiful and elegant childhood destination wiped out and replaced by that monument to poor taste that sits on the site now.
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